I have a question about Akagi and Kaga in their 3-deck configuration. It looks like the navigation bridge is directly under the forward end of the upper flight deck, between the 8" twin mounts. Does this block aircraft access from the upper hangar to the middle flight deck? I know the middle flight deck was short and of limited use, but was it made inaccessible by design or was this bridge built later? Or does the bridge move or open in some way?

In that configuration, up forward, there is a lower flight deck, a bridge deck, and an upper flight deck. The upper hangar deck is the same level as the bridge deck. So, no flight ops off that deck. The forward lift divides the space between the bridge and the hangar deck.

Thanks, shame really I was looking into building one of these and I thought it would be cool to have a plane launching at every level. Not that it really diminishes the awesomeness of their appearance.

Is their a replacement set for the twin 12cm guns available for the Akagi?I want to built the Irako and perhaps an Ukuru Escort and they had the same gun.But the pitroad gun is more than basic and fivestar only made a set for the single gun.

Is their a replacement set for the twin 12cm guns available for the Akagi?I want to built the Irako and perhaps an Ukuru Escort and they had the same gun.But the pitroad gun is more than basic and fivestar only made a set for the single gun.

This is my first post on this or any other modeling forum, so pardon me if I don't observe the protocols.

I am working on 1/350 Akagi by Hasegawa. The plan is to finish her as she was at Midway. My problem is that I purchasedthe Hasegawa wooden deck, and I have never used one. So, I have two questions:

1. Is there an appropriate finish/varnish for the deck? What I have seen online isn't very clear about what works best if anything.

2. The deck came with "stickers" to sub for the waterslide decals in the kit. However, they seem way too bright for the scale, not to mention a ship that had been continuously at sea. Does anybody have ideas on how to weather them? Or would I be better off just using them as stencils and painting them in?

I used a wooden deck in 1/700 scale on a Essex class carrier and the 1/700 Akagi. I learned that due to all the deck area and the extreme camber that the Akagi had, it will want to warp and twist unless you apply constant equal pressure when applying it. I wondered to even go so far as to vacuum bag my next attempt.

You need to apply a sanding sealer to the wood before you attempt any painting. I prefered to use wood stains for the overall deck color, followed with very light sanding, and then applied sanding sealer. Make sure your deck is fully secured to the plastic kit deck and the adhesive is fully cured, otherwise you may get some pop ups and warpage. I used Minwax stains and sealer.

For deck markings, you probably don't want to hear this, but masking them out and painting them is the best way. As I found out on my 1/700 Akagi, it turned out to be easier than dealing with all those long decals and trying to line everything up and then find out the decal color was the wrong contrast. The final look is worth the time of masking and painting.

Finish the deck with maybe a light wash of light gray to blend and tone everything down and a final coat of flat clear to seal everything.